Scottish first minister stresses better future for Scotland

EDINBURGH, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond on Saturday stressed that Scotland's government is committed to building a better future, rallying support for the Yes camp for Scottish independence in the referendum scheduled for Sept. 18.

Addressing the spring conference of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) in Aberdeen in northeastern Scotland, the last before the referendum, Salmond said that "it's time to vote Yes now" for Scottish independence as the SNP celebrated its 80th anniversary this year.

He urged people to make the most of Scotland's potential, gaining equality and responsibility in the modern world as an independent country.

"This referendum is not about this party, or this First Minister, or even the wider Yes campaign," Salmond said in the speech broadcast live on Sky News, adding that "It's about putting Scotland's future in Scotland's hands."

He pointed out that a Yes vote in September "is not a vote for me, or for an SNP government in 2016. "It's a vote for a government in Scotland that the people of Scotland choose, pursuing policies the people of Scotland support."

On Friday, Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told more than 1,200 audience that independence has never been nearer and that "the last mile of our journey is upon us", hailing the referendum as the "biggest and best opportunity we will ever have to build a better country," the Scotsman newspaper reported on Saturday.

The gap between the Yes and No camps continues to be reduced ahead of the September's referendum and the momentum seems to be with the Yes campaign, although it is still behind the No vote in all major polls.

Meanwhile, A YouGov survey for pro-Union campaigners Better Together found that 59 percent of those quizzed believe the party should "consider the matter settled" if Scotland votes to remain part of Britain, 31 percent said the SNP should campaign for another independence referendum in the future following a No vote, while 10 percent said they did not know what their stance was. Conducted from April 8 to April 11 and released on Saturday, the survey questioned 1,148 Scottish adults.

In October 2012, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Salmond signed the Edinburgh Agreement, allowing Scotland to hold an independence referendum in autumn 2014 on the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?".